President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are paralleling those of former President Barack Obama’s at the start of his second term, and the Republican’s policies are even more popular than he is, giving him room to grow his poll numbers.
At least three newly released surveys show that the president maintains a better approval rating than he had at the end of his last term.
And a new element of those polls is that his policies are even more popular, suggesting that he can increase his personal approval rating above 50%.
“His policies are more popular than he is,” Mark Mitchell of Rasmussen Reports said.
“I think he’s got room to grow it,” added Mark Penn, chief of the Harvard Caps-Harris Poll.
As with those two polls, a new Big Data Poll put Trump’s approval rating at 48% and his favorability at 51%, the latest sign that voters continue to give the president space as he pushes through with his economic and immigration agenda.
Big Data Poll results suggested that Trump is settling into a groove, down from the record 55% approval had when he started his second term but poised to surge if he builds up wins on his economic agenda, starting with the trade deal with Britain.
“If these economic concerns turn out to be unjustified, we should all expect the president’s numbers to rebound, perhaps sharply,” poll director Rich Baris said in releasing his poll.
While occasional media polling has shown Trump with lower approval ratings, Rasmussen has conducted daily surveys and shown consistency in the president’s numbers. In his new comparison, he found that Trump’s approval ratings were tracking Obama’s at the same stage of a second term, and he predicted that the president could do better.
Some IMPORTANT observations…
> These MSM pollsters definitely dumped extra-hostile polls last week
> Even before that they were about 3-7 points left of us
> We put out more polls BY FAR than all of those names
> Look at that cluster at the end there – Definitely an op! pic.twitter.com/JN1YIuYU19
— Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen Reports (@honestpollster) May 5, 2025
“I think he’s going to maybe trace a little higher than that,” Mitchell said.
Penn said his data on Trump and the president’s key issues indicate that he should continue to improve.
Appearing on Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Business show, Mornings with Maria, this week, he said the public approves of Trump’s policy moves much more than they do of him.
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“If I say, ‘Do you approve with what the president is doing on immigration,’ 51% say ‘Yes.’ But when I say, ‘Do you favor or oppose some of the policies that he’s implementing,’ close to 70% say ‘Yes,’” Penn explained.
“So when his name is in there, I get a more partisan response. To me, that indicates that if he’s successful with his policies, he can chip away at that partisanship and get from 50 to 55, or 60, which is where you want to get to,” he added.